In a special Christmas gift of a lump of coal to people struggling with their health insurance, a wingnut Federal District judge in Texas ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or "Obamacare," is unconstitutional because neo-fascist sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's 2017 tax giveaway bill for billionaires eliminated the tax provision for the individual mandate, somehow "reasoning" that it made the whole of the ACA unconstitutional (including protection for pre-existing conditions). The suit was brought by 20 red states, led by the Texas and Wisconsin Attorneys General. The judge, Reed O'Connor is a Dumbya appointee who worked for the Rethuglican-held Senate Judiciary Committee from 2003-2007. Two years ago, he tried another gambit to declare the ACA unconstitutional over its provisions barring sex discrimination in Federally-funded health programs, so there was some obvious "forum-shopping" by the suing states. He's also got a record of anti-Obama, far-right rulings on everything from Title IX protections against sex discrimination in schools receiving Federal aid (agin' it!) to the Indian Child Welfare Act (agin' it, too!).
There will be a vigorous appeal mounted (although it's going through the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals) directly to the Supreme Court. Time will tell, but it's yet another example of Rethuglicans gleefully working to strip affordable health insurance from working families.
BONUS: The soon- to- be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement --
“When House Democrats take the gavel, the House of Representatives will move swiftly to formally intervene in the appeals process to uphold the life-saving protections for people with pre-existing conditions and reject Republicans’ effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act.”Powerful advocacy groups are already lining up to blast the ruling, including the AARP, American Medical Association, Federation of American Hospitals and America's Health Insurance Plans. A coalition of 17 Democratic State Attorneys General will also continue to contest the ruling. Even some folks on the right thought it was an embarrassingly bad ruling.
BONUS II: Legal expert Nicholas Bagley doesn't think this ruling will go anywhere. Professor Laurence Tribe agrees:
Update: It looks like this decision will be put on hold until SCOTUS rules on the appeal. I predict Roberts will join the four liberals to reverse this overbroad decision. Thomas and Alito will dissent. If I had to bet, I’d bet that Kavanaugh will join Roberts. Gorsuch, unclear. https://t.co/0scXeLnoeU— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 15, 2018
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